5 billion
expenditures: $58 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1998 est.)

Industries: food processing, diamond cutting and polishing,
textiles and apparel, chemicals, metal products, military equipment,
transport equipment, electrical equipment, potash mining,
high-technology electronics, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 5.4% (1996)

Electricity--production: 28.035 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 99.88%
hydro: 0.12%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 27.725 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 310 million kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry,
dairy products

Exports: $22.1 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports--commodities: machinery and equipment, cut diamonds,
chemicals, textiles and apparel, agricultural products, metals

Exports--partners: US 32%, UK, Hong Kong, Benelux, Japan,
Netherlands (1997)

Imports: $26.1 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Imports--commodities: raw materials, military equipment,
investment goods, rough diamonds, oil, consumer goods

Imports--partners: US 19%, Benelux 12%, Germany 9%, UK 8%, Italy
7%, Switzerland 6% (1997)

Debt--external: $18.7 billion (1997)

Economic aid--recipient: $1.241 billion (1994); note?$1.2 billion
from the US (1997)

Currency: 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot

Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1--4.2269
(November 1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996), 3.0113 (1995), 3.0111
(1994)

Fiscal year: calendar year (since 1 January 1992)

Communications

Telephones: 2.6 million (1996)

Telephone system: most highly developed system in the Middle East
although not the largest
domestic: good system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay
international: 3 submarine cables; satellite earth stations--3
Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 45, shortwave 0

Radios: 2.25 million (1993 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 24 (in addition, there are 31
low-power repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 1.5 million (1993 est.)

Transportation

Railways:
total: 610 km
standard gauge: 610 km 1.435-m gauge (1996)

Highways:
total: 15,464 km
paved: 15,464 km (including 56 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (1997 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 708 km; petroleum product